With so many different link building tips and strategies, you may wonder which off page SEO strategies you should spend your time on and which techniques are best left alone. Blog commenting is a strategy that many marketers often feel a sense of confusion regarding. Is it an effective link building strategy, or could it be viewed as spam? First, it is important to keep in mind that quite a bit changed following the introduction of Google's Penguin algorithm. Even so, blog commenting as a link building strategy was only effective in certain situations. For instance, when the blog offered do-follow links and quality, unique content. Today, this is more important than ever for obtaining any type of SEO advantage from blog commenting. Additionally, there are a few other link building tips to keep in mind in order to optimize the value of blog commenting.
Select Only Relevant Websites
The days of using any blog that would accept your comments are over. Instead, it is better to restrict your search to those blogs that are relevant to your industry. The ultimate goal is to post only comments that are helpful and relevant to readers. Keeping your comments restricted to those blogs that pertain to your business can help you to do that.
Credibility Counts
When it comes to off page SEO, credibility is critical. After you have identified a blog post as a potential for commenting, take some additional time to consider the quality of the blog's overall content. Additionally, evaluate how that blog shares content on social media.
Create Comments with Purpose and Value
Comments from marketers who are only interested in grabbing a backlink are usually fairly easy to spot. Most blog managers will delete such comments before they even make it to the post. Even if you manage to make it on the page, thoughtless comments will be viewed as nothing but spam and generate no value. By putting in a few extra minutes to creating thoughtful, valuable comments, you can increase your chances of having your comment posted while also gaining credibility among the blog's readers.
Don't Overdo It
Don't fall into the trap of bombarding your comments with links. Ideally, it's best to restrict it to one link. Posting too many links significantly increases the chances that the blog manager will delete your comment completely and runs the risk of Google flagging your comment as spam.
The Benefits of Blog Commenting
While Google has cracked down on blog commenting for off page SEO purposes, there are still many valid reasons for keeping this technique as part of your overall marketing strategy. Perhaps the biggest reason for doing so is that Google is certainly not the only search engine out there. Many other search engines are not quite as strict regarding how backlinks are built. When handled properly, blog commenting can be a great way to build direct traffic to your website. Such highly targeted, direct traffic can be quite valuable and even lead to sales.
Blog commenting can also be a great way to get your brand in front of prospective customers. Even if a visitor doesn't click on your click, simply having your brand name out there can be an effective way to build trust, which may eventually prompt a reader to make a purchase.